Deposed Indian selector blasts coach Chappell

NEW DELHI, Monday (AFP) Former India player and deposed national selector Yashpal Sharma on Monday blasted coach Greg Chappell for targeting players he did not like.

"Chappell wants (Sourav) Ganguly out while (Virender) Sehwag, Harbhajan (Singh) and Zaheer (Khan) are the other targets in his mind," said Yashpal, who was ousted from the selection committee last week.

Yashpal, who reportedly pushed for former captain Ganguly in the Test team for the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, said the coach had even doubted his integrity. "Chappell questioned my integrity and his behaviour shocked me," said Yashpal, a member of the team that won the 1983 World Cup in England. Ganguly was earlier dropped from the one-day side due to poor form, an elbow injury and a damaging public spat with Chappell, who termed him unfit to lead India in a leaked e-mail to the Indian cricket board.

Yashpal, Pranob Roy and Gopal Sharma were last week removed from the national selection panel after political heavyweight Sharad Pawar wrested control of the board. They were replaced by Bhupinder Singh, Ranjib Biswal and Sanjay Jagdale, none of whom have played Test cricket.

Pawar became president of the board as his panel defeated the faction backed by former International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Jagmohan Dalmiya.

"Chappell also alleged that I was Dalmiya's man. I felt very bad because I have played with honour for my country and he has no right to question my credentials," said Yashpal.

Yashpal played 37 Tests for India during the 1970s and 1980s, scoring 1,606 runs with two centuries. He also figured in 42 one-dayers in which he aggregated 883 runs.